'One for One'

I AM A BIG FAN OF TOMS. Blake Mycoskie started off a movement that is extremely clever and worth-while. He came up with the idea of 'one for one', which means that for every shoe sold they would give a pair of shoes to a child that needs shoes. Why shoes you may ask? So many children across the world are at risk from injury, infection and soil transmitted diseases because their feet aren't protected. Some children can't go to school unless they wear shoes and if they can't go to school then this doesn't give them or their community a lot of hope for the future. Also, many children in less-developed countries have to walk for miles everyday.. imagine doing that without any shoes on! There has been over 1,000,000 smiles across the globe as TOMS gave shoes to those that needed them because people that could afford to buy shoes purchased them from TOMS. This is my third pair of TOMS shoes and I don't regret a single penny. There are lots of different designs to choose from and they are rather comfy to wear. So next time you are thinking about buying a new pair of shoes, why not buy a pair of TOMS..you may just save a child's life :)

TOMS video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Evbs3ilpqwU#!

TOMS UK website:

http://www.toms.co.uk/

TOMS America website:

http://www.toms.com/

Chosen not rejected

For a while now, I have been reading John Ortberg's book 'Love Beyond Reason' which is a book that aims to help you to move God's love from your head to your heart. A chapter I read today switched on a light in my soul and I wanted to share my revelations with you. The main theme of the chapter displays the idea that to be loved by God is to be chosen by Him. Being chosen means four factors in today's world:

1. I am seen as unique

2. I am seen as someone who has something to contribute

3. Somebody wants me

4. I am superior to someone else

The first three were apart of God's plan but the last was definitely not, in fact it was the opposite.

When God chose me, that action is meant to augment others not make them feel inferior leading to deadly envy. We are missing out on a huge joy when we are jealous of our brother's and sister's joy of being chosen instead of rejoicing with them. We are all chosen and God lovingly chooses every son and daughter with immeasurable uniqueness. This means that there is no need to compare ourselves against one another, which would of resulted in us struggling to love one other. We are not chosen at the expense of someone else. No one is rejected or alone. We are all God's beloved.

Thank you Almighty God for loving us and choosing us each uniquely. I love and praise You for that. x

Peace

'One very wet and windy Autumn morning I was looking at the garden out of my kitchen window. The rain was teeming down and the Silver Birch tree was taking a real battering from the gales.

As I looked, I noticed on the bottom branch, right against the trunk of the tree, a little dove sitting calmly and peacefully, waiting out the storm. It was totally undisturbed by it's uncomfortable, noisy and chaotic surroundings.

A lovely truth came to my mind. It is possible to have complete peace and calm in our hearts, even in the middle of the turmoil and storms of life.

That little dove had settled on the strongest part of the branch - next to the trunk, and was perfectly safe.

God has promised that He will keep us in perfect peace if our hearts and minds are trusting in Him.'

This was put in a card from a friend to encourage me as I went back to teaching after being ill. In the midst of the uncomfortable, noisy and chaotic surroundings, I can say that God has been giving me a peace beyond understanding and I'm just waiting out the storm, until my placement is over.

21 parts of me

On Saturday 21st January I turned the significant age of 21, so I've decided to share 21 things about myself. Some things will change with time and others will always be apart of me, however they still bring colour into the outline of who 'Daisy' is. There is also much more to me than these 21 things that I don't even know about myself yet.

1) I am a small person in height but this is so God can show His greatness through me.

2) I love photos - “A photo says, you were happy, and I wanted to catch that. A photo says, you were so important to me that I put down everything else to come watch.”

― Jodi Picoult

3) I can be quite impatient unless it's with a child - God's working on it ;)

4) My boyfriend is my best friend and I love him for simply who he is.

5) I love film scores; 'The Holiday' film score will always be my first love <3

6) Waking up early is easier when there are beautiful sunrises that are full of pinks and oranges.

7) Skype chats with my brother Al are special :)

8) I am a big twilight fan!

9) I enjoy a lovely piece of cheese.

10) I like to collect things: mementos, shells..I even used to collect stamps.

11) I am learning to play the beautiful instrument that is called the piano, it makes me happy.

12) 'Shall we watch a film?' :D Drama has the power to move people; it is a passion of mine, both watching it and being involved in it.

13) I love it when God uses me to encourage the people around me with His words and pictures.

14) PINK.

15) I support the football team Arsenal but not greatly. I enjoy to go to the odd match with my boyfriend when I can afford it.

16) I've tasted travelling and I want more.

17) Hot chocolate and prayer, and wine and laughs..yes!!

18) I am a leader - house group, youth, children; wanting my teacher Jesus to lead through me.

19) Swimming for exercise, for fun and relaxation is just immense and I miss going every week.

20) I could sing and dance for King Jesus all day long if I could.

21) Hearing little people giggle makes my day.

There were 5 in the bed..

Today I was woken up by members of my family calling out my name. I asked 'yeah,why are you calling out my name?' and my mum informed me that my mum, dad and two sisters were all in my mum and dad's double bed. Hearing the sound of giggles, I got out of bed and joined my family. We chatted, laughed and cuddled. It had been a stressful week with a lot of lesson plans to write and this moment was what I really needed. I wish my cat Tigger could have been there :( Only a short time, not even an hour of my life yet it will be a memory I will treasure. It's the people that make life special so of course I made those special people tea in bed :)

I will not die an unlived life.

'I will not die an unlived life

I will not live in fear

Of falling, or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open me

To make me less afraid,

More accessible

To loose my heart

until it becomes a wing,

a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance;

To live

So that which came to me as a seed

Goes to the next as a blossom

And that which came to

to me as blossom,

Goes on as fruit.'

Dawna Markovna

This is a prayer I want to tell my Heavenly Father for my life in 2012. I want to live out of His fullness in me, trust that worrying is a worthless hobby and step into all the plans He made for me. I want to learn how to love from Love and then let love gush out of me wherever I go. I want to attend the seeds planted in me, enjoy watching the petals develop and then pass something beautiful to someone else. I want to be thankful in everything because I know from my journey last year that this produces much joy. I want to not be satisfied with comfortable but unfulfilled because actually my life is a gift which I want to give back to my God out of loving surrender.

Athentikos

PLEASE SUPPORT ATHENTIKOS TODAY!

Isaiah 58:6-12

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,

and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

I see a need. When I heard who Jesus was, the King who stopped for the poor, the broken and the needy I realised that helping those that have a need is a natural heart response if you love the Lord Jesus because you can't help but care about the things He cares about. However, to have this revelation on my own isn't good enough. I want to raise the alarms, I want others to see the need too because of the love they've encountered from the living God. The video above is a video created by my big brother Alex showing a need and showing a hope. A need in Guatemala that isn't going away any time soon unless more people start to join together to respond and it crushes God's heart but an amazing hope that there is a movement of motion pictures aiming to raise awareness for God's people to respond to this need. I will be showing this video tonight to the group of young people that I help to lead. I want them to see the need. See Guatemala's struggle that they are trying to push past and see the potential in God's beautiful young people that live on the street.

There is hope because there is LOVE.